December 2, 2011

Facebook Announces Most Popular Articles Of 2011

"We recently looked at the most shared articles in the US on Facebook over the past year," Facebook said in a blog post.

The number one article shared on the world's most popular social networking site was by the New York Times, showing before and after pictures of the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan.

The article included disaster sites like Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant and Sendai, which includes the Minamisanriku and Onagawa nuclear plants.

Another story of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami was a story on Yahoo entitled "Dog in Japan stays by the side of ailing friend in the rubble."

The Japanese dog was not the only dog in the top 10. The dog that laid at the side of the casket of the fallen Navy SEAL who was killed in Afghanistan was at number six.

Parental articles consisted of three of the top five stories, including the viral video of a father and daughter dancing together at her wedding.

A couple zodiac sign articles made it in the top 10, including one that disputes the dates due to changes in the Earth's alignment. The second article helped bring peace at mind to some by claiming the new signs did not disrupt Westerners.

Another top 10 article shared on Facebook this year was about the giant crocodile that was captured alive in the Philippines. The 2,370-pound crocodile was a 21-foot male who had consumed a water buffalo a month prior.

"The stories range from cute to thought provoking and represent the type of news people have been sharing and discovering with friends in 2011," Facebook said in the post.